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Abstract

willing to correct myself. And this is my second point.</p><p id="e735">3 years ago, I thought writing online required bone-cutting originality. That I must own my ideas. That my work is unique.</p><p id="4737">3 years later?</p><p id="44e7">I changed.</p><p id="76aa">For the better.</p><p id="2c80">This is what I realized. There is no such thing as originality in its absolute sense or in the purest, fullest sense of the word.</p><ul><li>Our ideas come from the environment we interact in.</li><li>The environment we interact in is created by people.</li><li>These people write the articles we read online and inject their ideas into our heads.</li></ul><p id="98eb">There is nothing original about our work.</p><p id="6260">That doesn’t mean our work is not good enough to be published and distributed online.</p><p id="67fd">It just means that our life experiences, perspectives, and voice(s) matter more than the ideas we are putting forward.</p><p id="463d">Your work should get your audience to think about you. And I mean <b>you</b>, the person.</p><p id="ea1c"><i>Weird, eh?</i></p><h1 id="64e3">No one cares</h1><p id="9b4b">In truth, no one gives a sh!t about your work online.</p><p id="9a98">Not at the start.</p><p id="df45">Everyone is busy gobbling up content produced by those with massive followings. That made sense. There must be a reason these pals and gals have a massive following.</p><p id="3ba2">This is my explanation.</p><ul><li>They started years before us.</li><li>They made many, many more mistakes than we did.</li><li>They fell, got eaten alive, crawled out of the trollers’ den, built themselves up, and moved on.</li></ul><p id="862a">This is the piece I see [<b>and many people miss</b>].</p><ul><li>We only get to see wavemakers.</li><li>No one cares how many are treading water.</li><li>No one knows how many have drowned or are drowning.</li></ul><p id="88fb">Writing online is like working hard to qualify and participate in the Olympics.</p><p id="7828">We only get to see those athletes who represent the country at the start of the event and standing atop the podium at the end of their events.</p><p id="cfbe">No one knows how many more died trying.</p><p id="994f">And honestly, no one cares.</p><p id="84df">And you might fall under this camp. Okay, okay, maybe not you, you online writing superstar.</p><p id="0c85">I do.</p><p id="a496">I deal with crickets all the time. I have hits and misses. More misses than hits.</p><p id="20c6">I must deal with a lack of engagement in my work. So, I try to figure out how I engage

Options

without spending too much time on it.</p><p id="d5f0">If this is you — I say this.</p><p id="3078">You are a brilliant online writer. Maybe you have a different worldview about online writing. Reality odes suggest otherwise. Don’t give up because you fall short of expectations.</p><p id="db60">Adjust your expectations.</p><p id="723d">Align it with the reality you are dealing with.</p><p id="ea75">You will structure your writing better, type faster, and become happier when you publish your work online.</p><h1 id="e4d2">The close</h1><p id="afa9">Writing online used to be a scary thought.</p><p id="af60">I was afraid of haters, tried too hard to be original, and got paranoid about external judgment.</p><p id="89c3">None of these happened.</p><p id="cf42">Instead,</p><ul><li>I learned to deal with crickets,</li><li>I learned to copy better,</li><li>I focused on myself.</li></ul><p id="82eb">Is this your experience, too?</p><p id="932d"><i>Like this story? Hit <a href="https://aldric-chen.medium.com/subscribe"><b>Subscribe</b></a>!</i></p><p id="0008"><i>Oh, oh, you can buy me <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/aldricchen">a cup of black</a> too! Thank you!</i></p><div id="b975" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/nick-invested-20-000-at-45-at-47-he-lost-everything-10-years-in-he-got-it-all-back-a51fe59424c6"> <div> <div> <h2>Nick Invested $20,000 at 45. At 47, He lost Everything. 10 Years In, He Got It All Back.</h2> <div><h3>A true story of a retirement-aspiree and his investing journey</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*RTCI9zbPpeBxyVdbzruVXA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="c6ea" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/are-you-wired-to-be-excited-running-a-1-person-business-heres-what-i-know-5c04c83e84af"> <div> <div> <h2>Are You Wired to be Excited Running a 1-Person Business? Here’s What I Know.</h2> <div><h3>Signs of future success</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*bP_pqAExttU1kkie7zMODw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Writing Online Isn’t What I Expect After Writing Online for 3 Years

Think you understand internet writing? No, you don’t.

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina 🇺🇦 on Unsplash

I used to think writing online would invite trucks of trolls, scammers, haters, and unfriendly keyboard warriors.

It did.

But I grossly overestimated my capabilities.

I have maybe… 1 or 2 haters per online article?

And that is a good day estimate.

This surprised me. When I first started, I asked myself if I was ready for it. After all, all the influencers online were bashing those who were busy bashing them.

“Are you sure you want to be busy doing this?”

I took a deep breath. I jumped in.

I’m happy to say that 3 years in, 1,300 online articles, and 8,000 followers later…

I have no enemies and genuine haters online. Surprised?

We, the copycats.

We cannot avoid it.

The internet has changed how we interact with this world. There is no way we can avoid taking out our smartphones, tapping on Google or Safari, and searching for information, knowledge, and who’s who online.

It’s part of our life now.

We know it.

We act on it.

We would read a beautiful article online and [then] find ways to copy it. Elegantly. Tastefully.

Yes. This is another one of those things. We copy. But we don’t acknowledge the act of copying.

Our inner online writer’s voice says this.

Let’s challenge ourselves and write this article better.
Let’s write a different perspective on this [exact] topic.
Can we superimpose this beautiful story into our experience in our writing?

I hear your objection.

“This is not copying! We are doing a one-up!”

Okay, yes. And I am willing to correct myself. And this is my second point.

3 years ago, I thought writing online required bone-cutting originality. That I must own my ideas. That my work is unique.

3 years later?

I changed.

For the better.

This is what I realized. There is no such thing as originality in its absolute sense or in the purest, fullest sense of the word.

Our ideas come from the environment we interact in.
The environment we interact in is created by people.
These people write the articles we read online and inject their ideas into our heads.

There is nothing original about our work.

That doesn’t mean our work is not good enough to be published and distributed online.

It just means that our life experiences, perspectives, and voice(s) matter more than the ideas we are putting forward.

Your work should get your audience to think about you. And I mean you, the person.

Weird, eh?

No one cares

In truth, no one gives a sh!t about your work online.

Not at the start.

Everyone is busy gobbling up content produced by those with massive followings. That made sense. There must be a reason these pals and gals have a massive following.

This is my explanation.

They started years before us.
They made many, many more mistakes than we did.
They fell, got eaten alive, crawled out of the trollers’ den, built themselves up, and moved on.

This is the piece I see [and many people miss].

We only get to see wavemakers.
No one cares how many are treading water.
No one knows how many have drowned or are drowning.

Writing online is like working hard to qualify and participate in the Olympics.

We only get to see those athletes who represent the country at the start of the event and standing atop the podium at the end of their events.

No one knows how many more died trying.

And honestly, no one cares.

And you might fall under this camp. Okay, okay, maybe not you, you online writing superstar.

I do.

I deal with crickets all the time. I have hits and misses. More misses than hits.

I must deal with a lack of engagement in my work. So, I try to figure out how I engage without spending too much time on it.

If this is you — I say this.

You are a brilliant online writer. Maybe you have a different worldview about online writing. Reality odes suggest otherwise. Don’t give up because you fall short of expectations.

Adjust your expectations.

Align it with the reality you are dealing with.

You will structure your writing better, type faster, and become happier when you publish your work online.

The close

Writing online used to be a scary thought.

I was afraid of haters, tried too hard to be original, and got paranoid about external judgment.

None of these happened.

Instead,

I learned to deal with crickets,
I learned to copy better,
I focused on myself.

Is this your experience, too?

Like this story? Hit Subscribe!

Oh, oh, you can buy me a cup of black too! Thank you!